NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge sentenced a
Somali pirate to 33 years and nine months in prison on
Wednesday for his role in the 2009 seizure of the Maersk
Alabama container ship in the Indian Ocean.

Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse -- the sole surviving pirate after
others were killed by U.S. Navy marksmen in a high-seas rescue
-- was charged with kidnapping, hijacking and hostage-taking.

In a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty in May.

Muse was extradited to the United States following the
April 2009 attack on the Maersk Alabama, in which kidnapped
Captain Richard Phillips was rescued while three captors around
him were shot dead by sailors on another vessel.

"I ask for forgiveness to all the people that I harmed, and
also the U.S. government," Muse told the court through a Somali
interpreter. "I got my hands into something that was more
powerful than me."

Muse was 16 at the time of the attacks, defense attorney
Fiona Doherty said, although his exact age is unknown. Doherty
had asked for a 27-year sentence, citing his young age and his
growing up in the "failed state" of Somalia.
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